The present invention relates to video game terminals for commercial establishments and an improved game storage arrangement.
In commercial establishments, video game terminals are typically coin operated or include a validator for payment. The terminals preferrably have a host of video games and puzzles that can be played by one or more patrons. Somewhat surprisingly, there is substantial variation in the most popular games that varies from location to location.
Most game terminals have at least 20 different video games available and some game terminals have 60 or more games that are immediately available. Such game terminals are relatively sophisticated using a processing arrangement similar to a personal computer to provide the fast processing necessary for the operation of the game and the changing video graphics. In recent years, the amount of memory required by certain games has greatly increased.
With these video game terminals, the computer processing arrangement can access several different types of mass storage memory. In particular, hard disk drives have been used to store the host of games available on these terminals, and in some cases, CD drives are used to store the games and in particular, the video graphics of the games.
The video game terminal has an operating system which displays various screens to encourage a patron to participate, and this participation normally includes the payment of a fee as well as the indication of a particular game to be played. Upon receiving these instructions, the processor accesses the mass storage device and loads the game or part thereof into Random Access Memory (RAM) associated with the processor. In some cases, the entire game can be loaded into RAM whereas in other cases, only portions of the game are loaded into RAM and the remaining information is available on the hard disk, CD drive or other mass storage arrangement.
The accessing of CD drives is somewhat slower than accessing hard disk drives, however, a CD drive makes it convenient for the operator to upgrade games when required. For example, compact disks can be sent in the mail and the owner can update the games by inserting the CD into the CD drive, and the game terminal is then updated, based on the new CD.
The process to upgrade a hard drive is more difficult and typically requires a skilled technician to at least access particular ports on the video game terminal and download the particular information to the game terminal. This is time consuming and has a higher update cost, relative to updating, based on a compact disk.
CD drives, as well as DVD drives and hard disk drives all rely on a mechanical drive arrangement which is subject to failure. As can be appreciated, these game terminals operate essentially seven days a week and may be subject to some abuse. Assuming the actual site conditions are satisfactory, these drives do have an expected life, and some failures will occur.
In most cases when a failure occurs, it is necessary to contact the owner of the machine and arrange for a technician to attend on site to repair or replace the terminal. There can also be a substantial period of time when the game terminal is not available due to the scheduling of the technician. This downtime is immediately reflected in a loss of revenue which is not restricted to the game terminal alone. These game terminals encourage patrons to attend a particular bar to play certain games, and purchase their favourite beverages.
It is therefore desirable to provide a reliable game terminal, as well as a video game terminal which can be upgraded easily. It is also desirable to be able to have a mass storage device which is capable of storing many games.
A coin operated device, according to the present invention, comprises a computer processing arrangement which includes a computer processor circuit board with its own RAM (Random Access Memory) for running any game of a series of games. The game device includes a first mass storage device selected from the group of a hard disk drive, a compact disk drive and a DVD drive, and a second mass storage device in the form of a flash memory device with a capacity of at least 10 mega-bytes. Each mass storage device stores a series of games, and cooperate with the computer processor for running of the games. The computer processor includes memory means for tracking of the individual games played, allowing identification of the more popular games played. The computer processor causes the identified more popular games to be stored in the flash memory device for recall.
According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the coin operated game device has at least 30 games.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the computer processor manages the storage of games to the flash memory, at least partially based on the popularity of the games, whereby frequently played popular games are stored in flash memory, when practical.
A coin operated game device, according to the present invention, has a main processing arrangement for playing any of 10 or more games stored in a separate flash memory arrangement or in a separate different type of memory storage arrangement. The processing arrangement maintains statistics with respect to the individual games played, to determine popular games, and additionally stores popular games when practical in said flash memory arrangement.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the coin operated device has the processing arrangement operating in a particular manner. The processing arrangement, in the event of failure of either the flash memory or the different type of memory arrangement, operates the game device in a restricted mode, using the remaining operating memory arrangement.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention, the different type of memory arrangement includes a compact disk or a DVD drive arrangement. The processing arrangement in the event of failure of the different type of memory, operates the game device in a restricted mode, based on the games available in the flash memory.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention, the coin operated game device monitors the mass memory storage arrangements and disables any games which are not available due to a failure of one of the mass storage arrangements, and only presents available video games for selection by the user.
An operating system for a pay-to-play video game device, according to the present invention, coordinates the storage of the games to be played on the device and transfers some of the games from a CD memory arrangement or DVD memory arrangement to a flash memory arrangement capable of storing several different games. The operating system further includes a monitoring function which determines whether each of the memory arrangements is functional, and in the event of one of the memory arrangements not being functional, the operating system restricts the operation of the video game while maintaining the video device operational for a limited number of games available on the functioning memory arrangement.